Seth Meyers ends his run behind the Weekend Update desk on Saturday Night Live this weekend, and he’s scheduled to replace the departing Jimmy Fallon on Late Night starting February 24th. While that’s all set in stone, there was still a bit of pomp and circumstance to be executed before Meyers could officially take the reins from Fallon.

That would be the passing of the giant-ass Late Night Pickle, a silly gag that goes all the way back to David Letterman‘s legendary run as Late Night host. According to Conan O’Brien, Letterman gave him the pickle just before his first show back in 1993. Conan passed it on to Fallon when he took over in 2009. Last night, Fallon handed the pickle over to Meyers.

There’s very little evidence of previous pickle passes, as last night marked the first time the exchange was performed on screen. But I found this old video blog that Fallon recorded in 2009, a few days before his first Late Night episode and just after one of Conan’s assistants delivered the pickle.

Share This Video

The attached note reads:

Jimmy,

The Letterman people sent this pickle to my office in 1993, just before I went on the air. They said it’s been in their office since the beginning and now they were passing it on to me. So now I am passing it on to you. Whenever you’re done, which won’t be for a long time, make sure you pass it on to the next sap.